Expertise

Comparative political institutions; the political economy of policymaking, with a particular focus on nutrition governance, fiscal decentralization, and public finance management

At the Keough School

Andrés Mejía Acosta (PhD University of Notre Dame, 2004) is the Kuster Family Associate Dean for Policy and Practice and associate professor of political economy of development in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.

Courses

• States, Markets, and Institutions for Inclusive Growth (undergraduate course in global affairs)
• The Political Management of Public Finances (graduate course for master of global affairs)

Biography

Prior to joining the Keough School, Mejía Acosta was a reader (professor) of political economy and founding member of the Department of International Development at King’s College London (2013-2022). Before that, he was a senior research fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, where he led global research programs on state-building and state capacity (2006-2010), democracy and local government in the Western Balkans (2010-2013), and nutrition governance in low- and middle-income countries (2010-2013). He has held associate teaching and research positions at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV-Brazil), the University of British Columbia (UBC-Canada), Central European University (CEU-Hungary) and Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Universidad de las Americas (UDLA) and Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Ecuador.

Research and Publications

Mejia Acosta’s research looks at the formal and informal political bargaining dynamics among government elites when adopting sustainable and inclusive policies in low- and middle-income countries. He is the author of four books and numerous journal articles on comparative political institutions (including legislative coalitions, political parties, and electoral systems); transparency and accountability in the extractive industries; the political and fiscal management of natural resource revenues; and fiscal decentralization. He is the lead researcher of Analysing Nutrition Governance, a comparative project exploring the motivations of governments to invest, coordinate and implement strategies to reduce children’s under-nutrition in low- and middle-income countries such as Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Niger, Pakistan, Peru, and Zambia. More recently he co-edited Negotiating Universalism in India and Latin America (Routledge 2021), a volume exploring the link between fiscal decentralization, subnational politics, and social outcomes.

Professional Recognition and Policy Expertise

Mejía Acosta’s scholarly work has consistently gained policy-relevant recognition. He has been consulted as a thematic or regional expert to international development organizations such as the British Department for International Development, the Carter Center, Freedom House, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Budget Partnership, the Swiss Development Cooperation Agency, and UNICEF, among others. Before joining the Keough School, he was prominently involved in the design, implementation, and success of Ecuador’s National Strategy for the Prevention and Eradication of Malnutrition (2021-23).